Ep. 39: Dreadful Hide-and-Seek
is the thirty-ninth episode of Dengeki Sentai Changeman. Synopsis Shou tries to find a lost child within a Space Beast's world-warping doors, made even harder with Giluke's ghostly intervention. Plot Shiima stands, Space Beast Soldier at her side, along a harbor. "Begin the Devil's Door strategy," she orders the beast, who then approaches several doors before him, projecting a beam upon them. Suddenly, whenever the door is used, the person will be transported to another dimension, an isolated landscape. Shou plays hide-and-go-seek with a group of daycare kids and their instructor. As Shou begins his search for the scattering kids, one boy makes his way to what he plans to be his hideout -- the door to a nearby shed. As he opens it, he falls into darkness, landing at a remote seaside. Alone and frightened, the young child begins to weep. Shou is on his searching, comb in hand in search for the teacher, Miyuki. He's playing out what he thinks their encounter will be like while calling out playful and innocent flirtations of finding her. He spots a figure that looked like the woman's. "I've spotted you, Miyuki," he happily says, approaching her. To Shou's surprise, the figure turns around to reveal that she's not the teacher, but a frumpy bookworm. This woman begins smacking Shou with her book in defense, calling out for help. He runs from her, taking refuge in the door of the shed that leads him to an isolated, rocky mountainside. Complete confusion is on his mind until his thoughts are interrupted by a lone, soaring door overhead, which stops and opens to reveal Ahames, Shiima, and Damusu. Taking a stance in preparation, Ahames reveals her goal. "When Damusu's warp energy is placed at a door, one will be warped to an unsuspecting place," she marvels. "Upon seeing you begin your game of hide-and-seek," Shiima begins condescendingly, "the trap of the Devil's Door was set," her words turn to self-congratulation. Ahames boasts that the plan is to lead each Changeman one-by-one into a door, separating them, taking advantage of their confusion of the process and defeating them at once. Shiima calls for the Hidoras to attack. He fights, tackling one off a hill, rolling with it, firing at others with Brace Laser. However, he's unable to combat Damusu' fighting technique -- repeatedly crashing into Shou with his large door. Fed up, Shou changes into Griffin to attempt battle. He's unsuccessful, as the others hide behind Damusu's large door from attack. He's further attacked, the four other Changeman soon arriving in Change Cruiser in order to retrieve him. As they drive in escape, the door obstructs their path, with a threat from Ahames that the Devil's Door can't be escaped. Just then, the door opens Damusu being shoved out, falling weakly, to Ahames' chagrin. Damusu was apparently pushed from the door by the same specter that previously haunted Hiryuu. However, this time the ghost's distance is closer and has taken fuller shape, allowing Dragon to recognize its face as Guiluke's. "Guiluke, you've survived," Ahames asks in shock. "Indeed...I've returned from the graveyard of space," the revelation sending a chill and disbelief through Ahames, who refuses the possibility in a frozen horror. "A grudge...a grudge sent to you Ahames, and to you, Changeman," the specter weakly threatens. "For I had to possess the body of a Space Beast Soldier that lie dying in the same graveyard as I did," he finishes, immediately projecting an attack to the Changeman, catching them off guard. He then turns his attack on Ahames, before weakly stumbling in pain. "My body is in vanishing," he attempts to say, before soaring off into the sky in escape. Suddenly, the Changeman are alerted by Ibuki that one of the hide-and-seekers, Akio, is missing. Ibuki orders for their return to the park. Meanwhile, Ahames reaches Bazuu in a furious hurry, demanding he do something about her situation. "Certainly you can't permit such conduct, can you," she angrily asks, a hint of fear in her tone. Bazuu finds it amusing, chuckling. "Doesn't it take a great person to return from the graveyard of space," he asks, tauntingly. "Although half-ghost, he's learned extraordinary powers. Perhaps Guiluke should be reconsidered," he threatens in attempt for her to obey him and finish carrying on with her orders. Shou and the others return to Miyuki and her class in the park as they search for Akio. Miyuki's in hysterics, placing blame on Shou for disappearing and not being attentive, leading to the boy's disappearance. As he apologizes, it dawns on him the possibility of Akio finding one of the Devil's Doors. He takes off, shrieking the boy's name as Hiryuu tells the others to split up. Hayate soon approaches a door, reaching the doorknob in caution, briefly hesitating. Strengthening his determination once he reminds himself it's for Akio's safety, he opens the door, falling into the darkness. He finds himself on the bridge of a dam, standing, shouting out to the boy. Just then, the Damusu's door arrives with Ahames and Shiima. Demanding to know the boy's location, Ahames simply threatens that he's separated far from him. Shiima dives in attack, Hayate fighting her off, taking a majority of the beating until he blasts her with Brace Laser. Just then, the surrounding blackens, and from nowhere, Shou finds himself in the grip of Ghost Guiluke. "The one to defeat Changeman shall be me," the wrathful figure groans. "Behold my method -- it will be the same method in which I'll apply to you, Ahames! You're the next to be destroyed," he threatens, each word causing a harder grasp around Shou's neck. The ghost's claws tear into the skin Shou's face. Meanwhile, the Changmen regroup in the park, lamenting the lack of success in finding the door. Just then, they catch a glimpse of a fallen comb by the door near entered by Shou. Obviously familiar with who the comb belongs to, they open the door, being pulled into the darkness. Once transported, they spot the beaten Shou within Ghost Guiluke's clutches, as Shou weakly calls out to them. Dashing to his rescue, the four of them fire upon Guiluke with Brace Laser and Shou is freed. Unable to take the attack in his ghost form, he retreats, soaring to the sky. Ahames orders retreat and the others make their way to Shou, who painfully apologizes to them. Time has passed and Shou, bloody and exhausted, props himself up against a tree in the park. The others furiously call out to him, telling him that it's absurd to set himself up repeatedly by entering the Devil's Door, the dangers that wait with Gozma and the uncertainty of when or where Guiluke will arrive. "Well, then, do you think Akio feels," he angrily shouts to them. Shou begins to cry at thought of the boy, who he sorrowfully recalls was the one most excited about the hide-and-seek game, thinking of the boy's fright at being alone. Not giving up and past the point of care, Shou makes promise to the boy, "I'll find you quickly -- this game of hide-and-seek isn't over," as he weakly limps through the park, ignoring the worried calls of the others as he makes his way to the door. Without the same hesitation as earlier, Shou opens the door and jumps in, finding himself at the rocky seaside as the boy. He spots the boy lying on rocks, crying, then making his way near the boy, tapping him on his shoulder. "I see you," he says in a sing-song, the boy crying in joy, hugging tightly onto Shou's rescue, as Shou consoles him. The joy is short lived, as Ahames and the others soon arrive. "You stupid fool," she happily calls out to Shou, "you're like a summer bug who flies into the fire," she insults, at Shou's repeated volunteer journey through their trap doors. Hidoras arrive and Shou fights. Moments later, Dragon and the others come to his rescue and Shou changes to Griffin, seeing Akio off to safety. The Changeman battle Damusu, who attacks them by sending them through various doorways to different dimensions, each dimension being shattered upon one of the Changeman performing their special attack. They eventually destroy both the door and Damusu with Power Bazooka. Shou is back in the park playing hide-and-go-seek with the kids and their teacher, once again, as the other Changemen look on. Shou prepares to search, feeling around the pocket of his jacket. Hiryuu takes out the comb found earlier, mocking Shou before tossing it to him. With a fixing of the hair, he sets off in search of Miyuki. Discovering what he believes to be her figure leaning against a tree, he approaches. "I've found you," he declares loudly, until recognizing it to be the bookworm once again. Miyuki herself leans out from a nearby tree she was hiding behind, laughing at Shou's screams as the bookworm chases him. Ignoring his apologies, the woman again chases him in attack, Shou madly scrambling for escape.'' Cast * : * : * : * : * : * : *Officer Suzuki: *Officer Shoji: *Officer Watanabe: *Officer Nomoto: *Officer Kikuchi: * : **Star King Bazeu (Voice): * : * : * : * : **Shiima (Voice): * : Guest Cast *Miyuki: *Akio: *Woman: Notes ''to be added DVD releases Dengeki Sentai Changeman Volume 4 features episodes 34-44. http://www.toei-video.co.jp/DVD/sp21/changeman.html References Category:Dengeki Sentai Changeman Category:Sentai episodes Category:Written by Hirohisa Soda